


Stolen, Broken, Lost

by crystalemi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Despite the title, Eventual Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, not much angst, the kids are misinformed and confused, they address Keith ‘behaviour’ at the end of s4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-08 07:57:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13453842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalemi/pseuds/crystalemi
Summary: Keith has a habit of sneaking into the Castle of Lions to spend time with his best friend whenever he can. There's something fragile between them, and they're not fully equipped (and sometimes willing) to nurture it properly. Add in there their contrasting feelings for the Red Lion, dealing with the aftermath of being half galra, almost dying every tuesdays and fridays, a pinch of low self-esteem and you get a very slow progress in their friendship. When someone they thought to be forever lost can surprisingly be saved, they have to straighten their relationship together and stick to each other's side.





	1. Guess who's straight game

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to my dear friend Nora,thank you for putting up with me, and to bae who's always dealing with my obliviousness and naivety.

Sneaking into the Castle of Lions is terrifyingly easy. Of course, he knows all the right codes to override, but he’s also well aware that torture is not a banned practice in space, especially when it comes to extorting information. He’d love to believe he’d never give in and spill, yet at the same time he doesn’t know what kind of infernal technologies advanced civilisations like the Galra have cooked up in more than ten thousand years of terror.

The first rule of the Blade of Marmora is “Knowledge or Death” and it hasn’t taken him long to understand how broadly encompassing that rule is. There is a reason one rule is all they need.

He’s been taught ways to kill himself unarmed if it came down to it and he’s been offered an implant in his teeth he’s not so sure he wants to refuse. Kolivan has made it perfectly clear that if knowledge was somehow divulged, he’d wish he’d offed himself when he could instead of returning to the HQs.

So of course it is terrifying to sneak into the castle, not meeting anyone for several hallways - he is in front of one of the paladins’ sleeping arrangements before anyone has even noticed there’s an intruder on board.

The one that notices, only does so because he’s the owner of the room he just entered. The red paladin is sitting on the ruffled up bed, one long leg bent as some unsteady holding surface for the tablet-like contraption he’s been reading on. He’s got a greenish substance on his face – some nonsense Keith has never understood the use for, especially since there still are huge black bags of fatigue underneath the paladins eyes.

“Oh Keith, it’s you.”

Lance goes back to reading, visibly suppressing a yawn – his nostrils flare and his eyes go brighter with moisture, his eyebrows pull slightly down toward the nose, there’s the light almost inaudible clacking sound of teeth.

“You could’ve been dead by now,” he says, mad at his nonchalance, “all of you,” he feels the need to add. Lance doesn’t look up from his tablet but his eyes haven’t moved since he spoke.

“Yeah, there’ve been a few close calls,” Lance bites out, annoyance clear in his voice.

Lance is going to be thickheaded and stubborn about it while Keith only wants the team to up their security for their own safety. It maddens him.

“No one stopped me!” he snaps, pointing to the still open door. He’s making a ruckus and yet no one is coming out to see what’s going on. That alone is appalling.

“Why would anyone?” Lance asks, just to infuriate Keith more. There’s no way he’s that oblivious.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe I’m a galra on board?”

Sarcasm might not be his thing, but he has lived with both Pidge and Lance in close quarters long enough to pick something up. What he learnt best was that Lance despises being treated to sarcasm as much as he loves delivering a good burn.

“Look, if you’re here to be an asshole about your tragic backstory, Shiro’s room’s still that way, go fuck yourself.”

That is not the reaction Keith expected. Lance’s gone back to his tablet, eyebrows furrowed and pout stretching his lips downward.

“What gives?” Keith asks, finally closing the door and walking to the side of the bed. He stands there, close enough to sit, but unsure it is still allowed.

Lance doesn’t reply long enough for Keith’s situation to become awkward, until the paladin huffs and rests the tablet on the bedside, patting the bed with his hand while it is on its way back to his knee.

He looks exhausted, his inner strength wore so thin it could snap any time. He’s not even hiding it behind some scrunched up cockiness and awful cheekiness, he’s open and bleeding. It hurts.

“Nothing much, we’ve been giving speeches and,” he interrupts himself with an annoyed flare of his hand. Keith sits close, facing him, waiting for him to continue – he never does. He hides his face in his hands, or tries to, but he swears loudly when he realises his weird dirt-smelling facemask is now everywhere on his hands too.

He scouts past Keith and goes to the ensuite. Keith follows, just a couple steps behind. Lance washes his face and Keith eyes the toilet, wondering if he has it in himself to disrobe completely just to piss, but he’s not sure he’d want to put on the suit again once he’s finally out of it. His bladder, however, reminds him it’s been quite a few hours since his last bathroom stop.

He sighs and starts taking off his armour, his boots, his blade. The suit is a stretchy material that doesn’t need a zip to go on and adhere to his form and it’s a great weapon while you’re wearing it, it’s a completely different story when you have to take it off or put it on. It also means there’s no easy access to certain body parts. The Blade might have been overlooking a few necessities when designing them.

Lance steals a glance at his naked body while he applies some white-ish cream to his face. Keith ignores it like they do for all their other oddities and relieves himself. There has been a time when Lance would’ve screeched or Keith would’ve never dared, but now they’re long past that. It’s been one too many nights spent using the bathroom together, one too many missions where there was no place for modesty.

Keith hates having given up on such a part of his personality, but loves the intimacy of sharing this vulnerable moment with Lance.

“I’ve got your PJs, if you’re staying,” Lance says as he finishes massaging in his cream. Keith nods and stands up, flushing the toilet absentmindedly.

“Yeah, okay,” he says – he washes his hands before Lance can judge him and finds a toothbrush-alike thing shoved in them as soon as they’re clean. It’s blue and white, it’s Lance’s. It makes him blush but he still goes about brushing his teeth.

The pyjamas are the red paladin’s, and Keith almost argues that they’re not his anymore, but lets it go with a tired sigh. He’s aware Lance and the others still call him the honorary Red Paladin, but he doesn’t think he can ever go back to being a Paladin again. He’s seen and done things he’s not proud of, and while Voltron only takes a life if there’s no other solution available, The Blade of Marmora isn’t Voltron. Keith is tainted, he will never open up to his old comrades the way he did before. Some things must stay buried.

“We’ve been doing nothing useful. Got my ass plastered everywhere in the galaxy, and on every picture fans make me sign,” Lance finally confesses – Keith kind of wants one of those pictures for himself. He’s seen the video of Lance’s mid-air shows, he’s still in awe he can do that and yet again furious he fucks up in training while wasting such great flexibility.

“I mean, it’s a great ass, I agree, but I-” his hands are torturing each other. They sit back on the bed and Keith is tempted to take Lance's hand in his to stop the torment, but there's a thin line between them and it has aways felt wrong to cross it, somehow. Not wrong per sé, but almost too early and uncertainty has never been Keith's welcomed friend. He'd rather avoid perturbing the clear waters they've been navigating in for weeks. Lance is a comfort, a luxury, he can't afford to lose.

“We’ve been doing nothing to help the universe.” Lance eventually confesses, a light blush on his amber skin. Keith would love to touch it and see for himself if it is as perfect and smooth as it looks.

Lance is staring at his hands, picking at the broken skin around his nails.

“Many worlds are joining the coalition, yes,” he says and it appears he’s finally going to voice his complaint to someone else’s empty speech, “but people are out there, you are out there fighting the real war to Zarkon! And I’m just the usual clown!”

There’s raw pain in his words, a pain that has distant roots, an echo of the days at the Garrison that are now long gone. Keith’s heart aches for something that could’ve been, which he lost in his own little world of loneliness and longing.

It takes an enormous leap of bravery to grab Lance’s hand in his, breaking down the wall of uncertainty, unknowingly starting something new. He’s a bundle of nerves but his voice is steady when he comforts him.

“You’re doing what you can, Lance.”

The hand in his is slack and he tighten his hold. There’s a oddly old feeling chocking him up. He has so much to say and no words that would ring true.

“And it’s not enough!” Lance snaps but his hand is still in Keith’s.

“Voltron can’t save the world on its own!” Keith tries to push through Lance’s barriers. The Paladin just bends his knees up to his chin.

“But we aren’t saving anyone at all!” He mutters, not looking at Keith.

“Give it time, enjoy the break for now,” it sounds like something someone has said to Keith when he was too young to remember faces or names. It is something he has forgotten for a while.

Lance doesn’t reply, but he squeezes Keith’s hand lightly. It’s comforting and new and exciting, all rolled into one messy feeling of belonging.

The silence lasts a while, but it never turns awkward. They move around almost unconsciously (but Keith’s heart is thundering in his chest, he can’t ignore any part of Lance) and they end up curled up in bed, under the sheets. Hands still joined.

Lance starts telling Keith how team voltron has been doing. About Matt’s visits that leave Pidge a bubbling mess of teenage happiness. About seeing Shay the Balmeran and Hunk stuttering in front of her like a giant eager puppy. He’s talking about Allura’s possible crush on Shiro, when Keith eventually throws his two cents in.

“Who hasn’t had a crush on Shiro anyway,” he snorts, Lance giggles -honest to God giggles. It’s so cute, Keith’s heart stutters and he blushes. He might need a visit to the med bay if his heart keeps acting up like this.

“Too bad he’s straight,” Lance notes almost wistfully. Keith doesn’t like his tone one bit and answers maybe too primly.

“Who’s straight?”

“What?!” Lance shots up, causing Keith to almost fall to the side when his head is suddenly without its leaning surface.

“What what?” He mutters, grumpy all of a sudden.

“Shiro’s not straight?!” His voice is an octave too high, bewilderment Clear in it.

“Of course not! He dated a few boys back in the Garrison, openly. He’s been out and proud since forever,” Keith informs him and Lance looks at him incredulous, but eventually leans back against the wall.

“I can’t believe it,” he sighs, still in shock. Keith shrugs, content to have back his bony shoulder for himself.

“How are you so oblivious?” He wonders aloud. Lance only gives a noncommittal grunt in reply.

 

There a long stretch of silence, so long that Keith is ready to call it a night when Lance proposes giddily, “Let’s play the _guess who’s straight_ game!”

Lance suggestion is met by a blank face, and he huffs, rolls his eyes back and explains quickly “Just say who you think is straight out of all of us.”

“Okay, then, Hunk’s straight,” Keith says carefully. He’s never truly thought about the sexuality of his friends, but he guesses, if there’s a safe bet, that’s Hunk.

“I dunno he’s into a _rock_ lady,” Lance mutters, an uncertain grimace tugging at his lips.

“She’s still a lady,” tries to reason Keith, but the grimace in Lance’s lips only grows sourer.

“Okay but maybe he’s pan? Does pansexuality include aliens?” Lance wonders, turning to stare him in the eye. Keith had never truly realised what a vast fan of blue shades his eyes are. They’re beautiful, it’s a pity they’re not as big as Allura’s because, although they are darker, they have nothing to envy Allura’s in terms of colour range.

“Shays a girl, therefore Hunk’s straight,” he tries again, almost lost in contemplation of Lance’s eyes - but not enough to ever lose a bet to him.

“But she’s not human!” Lance snaps, and it feels like Keith is just playing a voice in a discussion that Lance has had with himself quite a lot already. His words still sting deep inside, where he is more human than galra, but never human _enough_.

“I’m not human!” He bites out and puts some distance between them. It’s just a couple inches, but already enough to feel better. He lets go of his hand too, regretting it immediately but too proud to sneak his back into Lance’s.

Nevertheless Lance tugs him back, his arm is suddenly around his shoulders and Keith misses a heartbeat, despite the irritation.

“Well I guess I gotta take one for the team and be the furry!” Lance is too loud and talks too fast, he’s blushing up a storm and his hand on Keith’s shoulder squeezes him nervously.

“What’s a furry?” He wonders, and he hasn’t really understood any of what Lance has said. He’s missing the context - which is infuriating because this, right here, right now _is_ the context. How can he not get that joke, what is he missing again? Why is it so hard for him to be in the loop?!

“So innocent, so precious.” Lance coos, patting his cheek with the one hand that is still free to move.

“Fuck off!” He snaps, irritation lacing his words, but no real bite behinds them.

Lance’s hand squeezes gently in comfort and Keith lets it go. He still sulks.

“Well, there goes that game,” Lance mutters wistfully after a while.

“Whatever, I’m gay, you’re okay with anything that moves, Pidge likes robots.”

Lance doesn’t seem to know whether he wants to be indignant for himself or laugh about Pidge - his pretty face goes through a few emotions quickly, Keith doesn’t recognise all of them but it’s still interesting how much of an open book Lance can be.

“Poor girls in the Garrison, swooning for you... have you even seen them at all?” There’s a tiny laugh in his words, and it makes Keith oddly happy.

“I did, some of them where almost impossible to evade,” he explains with a shrug, Lance laughs aloud. It echoes in the room, Keith’s heart skips another beat. He really needs to get that checked out by Coran.

Lance’s laugh tapers out into silence, and Keith burrows into his side, fleetingly worrying about cuddling another guy, but the thought is ignored. He feels good, safe and happy. He will take what he can from this night and they can go back to a half-foot space between them in a week.

“Goodnight,” mutters Lance into his hair, “Goodnight” he answers already half-asleep in his best friend’s arms.

He sneaks out in the ‘morning’ but leaves a bitter message on the system for Pidge or Coran to find, informing them that the Castle’s defences need some tweaking.

  
o * o * o * o

The next time he sneaks in the defences have been upped, but he’s greeted by the castle’s mechanical voice - it says “get your skinny ass in here, Keith” which is such a Pidge thing to say he would smile if he wasn’t in such a dire situation.

Everyone is on the Bridge and he gets a warm hug from everyone- he really wishes he could enjoy it, but there’s a knot in the back of his throat that he can’t swallow. He’s close to suffocating on it.

“I need to borrow Red,” he says, finally dropping the bomb he’s come with. He sees Allura go rigid in the periphery of his eye, but he’s staring straight at Lance.

His friend goes stock still and angry, Keith steels himself and kicks out his desire to burrow back into those arms. He has a life to save and he needs his Lion’s help.


	2. You don't measure time in light years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith drops a bomb and Lance isn't ready.

The meeting goes as well as Keith imagined it would: he goes down screaming and kicking, Allura chews him out, Shiro tries to act as a mediator and fails - on his face there’s that “why do you keep letting me down” frown and he’s going to reprimand him in private once again. Lance hurts the most. He’s said yes, determined and unreadable. Keith knew from the start that he’d hurt him but he honestly expected a fight over it with Lance too, not just Allura.

“Keith, a minute,” Shiro corners him close to the kitchen. It was to be expected, as it is something that has happened a lot at the garrison. Keith made a risky, dangerous choice and Shiro was sent in to reprimand him.

“It is important, I need Red!” He snaps at him, Shiro is used to it and doesn’t react.

“Give us a reason, at least,” Shiro tries, Keith can feel his blood boil in his veins. There’s acid burning in the back of his throat, his jaws hurt from how hard he’s grinding his teeth together.

“Why, is _trust me_ not enough? Am I just _one of them_ now?”

Shiro’s emotions are all over his face for a short second there he’s back to being Captain Shirogane. Keith thinks he recognises betrayal and hurt in them, but he’s never been good at reading Shiro. His heart aches as he fleetingly thinks of Lance, how much easier he is to read -and yet there’s always something new for him to discover.

He recovers from his straying thoughts fast, but the fight in him is gone. Shiro is calmly staring at him from his high pedestal of _mister perfection_.

“We all trust you, but even if you still were Red’s only Paladin, we’d have asked you for a valid reason,” he says and the fight completely leaves Keith. He does recognise a lost cause when he sees one, against popular belief.

“And you’re not the only Paladin bonded to Red,” Shiro concludes. Keith wonders why it hurts more than anything else he’s said up to then.

“Then we’ll solve it between us, if you don’t mind, Shiro.”

Lance’s voice is pleasant, but cold. It’s unexpected and they both jump in surprise, previously wounded up so tight they didn’t even notice anyone else in the corridors.

“I don’t think this is a private discussion, Lance,” Shiro starts, then adds “It pertains Voltron as a whole, we’re a team.”

“Please Shiro, it’ll take just a moment,” Lance begs contritely. He looks uncertain, he’s hugging his own torso, his hands are hidden under his armpits.

Shiro sighs loudly but eventually concedes. He walks into the kitchen to give them space, but Keith bets he’ll hear the screaming match about to start from in there anyway.

In truth, Lance doesn’t say much at all at first, he does the comical thing of opening his mouth to speak, then closing it when he’s come up with nothing to say. It happens a couple times, the minutes stretch by, unperturbed. It’s unnerving, Keith doesn’t want Lance to pick every single one of his words, he wants to hear him scream murder at him.

Suddenly Lance steps extremely close and Keith is hit by his fight or flight instinct so hard he almost stumbles back. Lance’s hand shots out and saves him from falling on his ass, but it also pulls him back against him. They’re so close Keith’s breath gets stuck in his lungs, his hands hover carefully an inch away from Lance’s chest.

When Lance finally speaks, he does so directly in Keith’s ear.

“What’s going on, why can’t you tell us?” He asks, and Keith’s heart plummets to the floor just to soar back into his chest, lighter than ever - because Lance gets it- but heavier than before because he doesn’t want to lie to him.

“Knowledge or Death,” he can only say.

Lance doesn’t seem happy about the non-explanation - Lance wasn’t there at the Blade of Marmora’s trial - but he nods anyway and answers “Okay.”

Keith fights the overwhelming need of hugging Lance. It’s quite a fit since he’s not so used to restraining his deepest instincts and Lance is just so close that it’d be the natural next step to their position, were they in any other situation. Keith takes note he might be touch starved and takes a step back. Lance lets him go and Keith mourns a lost chance, for what he doesn’t know.

“Where do we go once we sneak out red?” Lance asks, starting toward the hangars.

“We?” Keith is surprised Lance wants to go against the team _for him_.

However, it comes out wrong and Lance sneers.

“Of course I’m going with you, it’s my Lion too now!” He says and Keith just nods.

“Thaldycon System.”

“WHAT?!” Lance shouts and Keith pouts, but then Lance adds, “It’ll take months to get there, even with a Lion!”

“It’s actually a week from my current outpost,” Keith admits somewhat shyly, and Lance takes a few ticks to register his answer, as he’s too shocked by the pretty new angles Keith’s face is showing.

“Wait, it takes you weeks to get here?!” He screeches when it finally sinks in. Has Keith been traveling so long to sneak into Lance’s room once a month? Has he been treated poorly by the Blade? Kolivan might be twice his size, but Lance is pretty sure he’ll make sure he will never stand on his feet ever again if he only dared to twist a hair on Keith’s mullet.

“I use a portal,” he says. When Lance doesn’t seem to understand he adds, “like a wormhole but less powerful.”

Lance looks confused and ready to question him but he schools himself, lets the anger flow out of his system (postponed, not forgotten) and eventually nods.

“So we take Red, fly through the portal to your current outpost, do the thing and then get back here,” Lance summarises, still in the dark about ‘the thing’ itself, “that’s it?”

Keith nods, then adds, “Yeah pretty much,” it looks like he wants to say something but in the end he just take a step back. Lance sighs, already hearing how much grieve he’ll get for this stunt from Allura and Shiro, feeling on his skin the quiet disappointment of Coran’s sad looks. Oh the things he doesn’t do for an ugly mullet.

He turns and heads to the hangars, his mind made up. Keith follows, an awkward shadow.

Red purrs loudly in the back of Lance’s mind, and he’s jealous of how happy his lion is of seeing his old Paladin. It’s annoyingly cute too and it makes his heart bleed since he’s stopped feeling Blue’s voice the day he rode Red for the first time, but of course Keith can still hear him, even after he’s piloted Black and then left the team all together. It reminds him that they’re on two separate levels and the Lions know it.

He can’t even be mad at Keith as he only knows he is feeling Red’s joy because his lips has split up into the most beautiful smile Lance has ever seen. It’s unfair and beautiful. Keith’s eyes are alight with contentment, and Lance wonders if maybe he’ll let Red go alone with Keith. It’ll break him, watching the back of Red fly away from him, and he’s not sure he can face everyone’s rage alone - so he acts like the coward he pictures himself as and precedes Keith inside Red.

At least Red is happy that he’s behind the metaphorical wheel, and he purrs up a storm. Keith leans against his chair, and while there’s a smile still lingering on the corners of his lips, he’s back to business. The hangar’s gate opens after the few minutes of delay it always gives the pilot for settling in into the lion and then they launch.

They only have a few ticks before the others will be alerted of their departure, therefore Keith doesn’t waste any time showing lance the way to the portal.

It is only a few light years away, and it’s hidden in an asteroid field from which Pidge has been picking up odd signals but didn’t investigate yet. The portal itself closely resembles a teludav’s wormhole, but it is almost too small for Red to pass through and it’s after a shorter time than usual they’re out. The ride is turbulent but uneventful - Red only has to stay a bit crouched to avoid risking flying out of the tunnel and into some weird distant place of the universe.

Lance is thankful for Red small size and agile movements. Blue with its bulk and slower reaction time would have never been able to enter, let alone see the other side safely.

“I’m taking the space jumper and checking back into the outpost for provisions,” Keith informs him and shuffles around into Red’s command cabin, “It’ll take me up to two hours, if I’m not back by then go back through the portal and-“ he stops and looks at Lance. There’s a odd determination on his feature that makes a lot of bells go off in alarm into Lance’s head.

“Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

That sends a shiver through Lance’s whole body. Suddenly Keith looks younger, and Lance is shocked into remembering a moment from their last encounter with Haggar, a moment they’ve put aside in fear of trespassing that fine line they’ve drawn to protect themselves and each other from whatever is growing between them. It’s terrifying, seeing that same expression on Keith’s face that he’s visualised on him on that day.

“You’re not going, I’ve got provisions for a month in here,” he argues, standing up, his hand gripping the back of the chair to steady him. It makes Keith stop with his teetering around with the many buttons and levels in the command cabin.

“What?” He asks, clearly confused. Lance sighs and the tension leaves his body almost completely.

“After we were stranded on those planets I filled up Blue with food and first aid necessities... then did the same for Red,” he admitted. He and Hunk had been lucky that time but Pidge, Shiro and Keith could’ve died of starvation (or their wounds).

“That’s... pretty smart, actually,” Keith admitted with half a smile. Lance preened under the compliment and relaxed. He smiled back.

“New plan then,” Keith says, his hands form fists and he looks so nervous Lance wonders if maybe he should steady him somehow.

“We’re here to save Ulaz,” Keith says.

It’s a bomb Lance wasn’t expecting. He has somehow convinced himself that he’d be going into this mission completely unaware of what the mission itself entailed. What scares him is that he totally would have followed Keith blindly, even though he’s well aware that Keith needs a reality check every once in a while.

“He’s dead?” He wonders aloud.

“He’s a Schrödinger’s cat, or well, kind of?” Keith tries to explain. Lance has a feeling he doesn’t really know what he’s saying.

“He’s a what?!” He screeches, Keith flinches, “Look I was asleep through most of quantum physics but even I know that the goddamn cat is dead when you open the box!”

“But we’re not opening the box!” Keith argues back and Lance wishes he had Hunk there, because he sure isn’t equipped for discussing a quantum physics paradox while in space with his goddamn crush, after having run away from ‘home’ with him in the gayest decision of his stupid existence.

“You know what, I don’t care, you’re gonna get us killed and I’m fine with it!” He shouts, having lost control of his mouth, “It’ll show everyone that I was right and smarter than you!”

“How are you smarter than me if you let me get you killed in a superposition paradox?!” Keith screams back, a gut reaction at being screamed at.

There’s silence for a few ticks. Lance tries really hard to bottle up everything he has to say about Keith’s plan. He also ignores the tiny irritating voice that says that it’s a legitimate question: who’s more stupid, the suicidal freak or the one with a crush on the suicidal freak? He truly is a master of fucks up, he should write a book on that, ‘how to be a fuck up and function enough to save the universe while riding giant mecha cats’.

“We’re going, and when we’re both dead and in hell, I’ll haunt your sorry spiritual ass for all of eternity,” he bites out, sitting back into the chair and setting the Lion into motion, toward the  _xanthorum_ clusters field.

Keith is silent for a bit, looking pensive, eyebrows drown together and his thinking pout on his pretty lips.

“Do Galra go to hell?” He wonders aloud and Lance is very good at not hitting the brakes and shoving him out of their Lion. Red kind of agrees with him.

A few hours into their journey, both realise how difficult it’ll be if they aren’t on speaking terms. Lance is physically hurt by the silence and Keith is unnerved by it. He might be used to it a lot more than Lance but at the same time he’s not so accustomed to a silent Lance. He doesn’t know how to break it, as usually that’s Lance’s prerogative. He oddly wants to, though.

“How did you find out?” Lance eventually caves in and asks.

“I heard Slav blabbing to himself when he find out what happened to his space pocket,” he reveals, and before Lance can say anything, he adds, “he told me that in 73% of realities Ulaz is both alive and dead in the space pocket.”

Lance snorts, “Did both you and Slav forgot about something called eating and drinking?” He wonders aloud, “you know, basic survival needs, other than oxygen?”

Keith’s face morphes into annoyance quickly, “of course I didn’t! He said that the space pocket might have become a time pocket or even a portal to a different reality!”

“Not you too! Why is everyone obsessed with alternative universes?!” Lance bursts out.

“Look you’re here you have to trust me!” Keith finally spats out, already regretting having missed Lance’s voice.

“That’s the problem! I trust you way too much!”

He sighs loudly. The tension leaves Keith’s body, and they’re at a standstill once again. Keith is both flattered and confused, he sits down on the floor hugging his knees. The Blade Of Marmora’s suit is comfortable in the way it stretches with his body and he’s glad he’s not dealing with the bulk of the Paladins’ armours.

“You didn’t have to come,” he mutters, feeling anxious. He doesn’t want Lance to die, in case something goes wrong, but there’s not much they can do about that, except for turning back and giving up. Keith isn’t exactly good at giving up and he’s terrified Lance will really die and he’ll have to carry the blame forever and lose the one person who’s making him feel weird inside. He wants Lance safe and sound but he also can’t do this alone and get out of it alive - and the only one crazy enough to help him of course is Lance.

“Well I’m here now, so deal with it,” Lance mutters, and Keith decides the best course of action is to stay quietly where he is and let Lance cool off. He takes the time to watch him. He’s grown a bit, probably thank to Shiro’s workouts. His shoulders are a bit broader and his muscles have been filling in quite nicely. He’ll never be buff like Shiro or even just Keith, but his muscles are a bundle of nervous energy, good for those pretty dances he did for the Voltron shows what feels like ages ago. His sinewy forms hiding the strength of steel. His body has changed, but Lance is the same as always.

Keith fights the desire of getting up and going closer to Lance, close enough to touch him and feel his warmth. It’s difficult to resist, especially when Lance’s nervous energy slowly bleeds out of him and he looks way more approachable.

He stays puts though and rejoices inside when Lance starts humming some of his songs in Spanish that Keith is sure are extremely famous but still can’t remember at all.

It’s peaceful for a while and he lets his lips curve in a small smile, hidden behind his arms, where Lance can’t see it. Hours later, when Lance woke him up to eat, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he went from peaceful to asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read about Shrodinger's cat thought experiment and I'm kinda confused?? We'll find out more later in the fic but please remember we're in a universe where giant mecha semisentient cats are a thing... (cut me some slack I took advanced physics and I sucked a LOT at it).  
> btw I'm trying to force myself to write at least a 2k chapter weekly and post on tuesdays so this isn't betaed and hardly read through... Also my life is hectic right now and I have a big comic con coming up this weekend so chapter 3 might be shorter. I can already say I'll skip posting on the 13th because I'm participating in a Valentine themed exchange. But I promise I'll catch up and OMG how crazy it is that we finally have a release date for season 5?? I'm hyped *0* and terrified too

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thank you for reading!  
> I'm trying to update once a week, but I haven't picked a day yet. I'm writing this story as a stress reliever in a chat to a good friend (@noracroft on instagram) as my life at the moment kinda sucks when it comes to do anything productive. So I literally only read it through to correct mistakes - I'm not native so if you read something obviously not English, just tell me, chances are I was editing at 3am anyway. 
> 
> On the next chapter we find out why Keith needs his lion back ~


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